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Themes of the Victorian era
Themes of the Victorian era
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In Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, Mr. Vholes is Richard Carstone’s legal advisor. Introduced to Richard by Mr. Skimpole, Vholes encourages and assists Richard as he attempts to unravel the mysteries of the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case in Chancery. Vholes, however, may not have the best intentions. Through descriptions of his gloomy physical appearance, suspicious actions, and unfortunate connections to English law, Dickens paints a vivid image of Mr. Vholes—a man who cannot be trusted. Vholes, therefore, is made up of multiple layers; as each layer peels away, the reader understands a little bit more of this secretive man. Surprisingly, Mr. Vholes is seen as more and more evil as readers journey to the center of his being.
On the macroscopic level, readers must first consider Vholes’s dilapidated office as a description of the man. This technique of using a description of a room in place of a character occurs frequently throughout the novel; here it provides the reader’s first glance into Vholes’s appearance and character. To start, the office is “in disposition retiring and in situation retired” (620). “Disposition” refers to ingrained characteristics, while “situation” refers to specific circumstances. The omniscient narrator is therefore making two separate points with different meanings of the word “retire”: First, the room seems shy in its manner ("Retiring, Adj."). Second, the room is secluded as a result of its situation (“Retired, Adj. and N."). The difference is that while the office has an introverted presence, a lack of activity causes the isolation. The other sense of the word “retire”—growing old and leaving one’s job—also rings in this sentence. The description can be applied to Vholes himself; he is quiet and clos...
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...s; he is simply an unbreakable lock. In Tulkinghorn’s case, that imperviousness means that he can safely conduct his affairs in private, and no one can decipher his true thinking. Vholes, however, is more of an open book. Those who look closely quickly spot his menacing flaws. Yet although Esther seems suspicious of Vholes almost immediately, Richard cannot sense the danger. In true Dickensian fashion, this inability to understand Vholes’s layers seems an ominous harbinger of events that will destroy Richard entirely.
Works Cited
Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. 1996 ed. 1853. London: Penguin, 2003. Print.
"Retired, Adj. and N." OED. 2014. Oxford English Dictionary Online. Web. 11 Feb.
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"Retiring, Adj." OED. 2014. Oxford English Dictionary Online. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
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different characters will handle this pressure, it captures an essence. of Lanyon’s personality and style. Everyone in society has secrets, in this book secrets are revealed. reputations are attempted to be kept, pressured by the duality of the characters and the situation in London. The introduction shows that “Stephenson’s use of a similar setting can be characterised as more.
Richard’s relatives never understood Richard and because of this he was alienated from his family and his own people. Shorty is the young black boy who gets beat by the white people and jokes about it. Richard hates Shorty because he accepts what Richard finds so disgusting. Richard goes over in his mind the different choices he can make to deal with the feelings he has. Richard does not want to “give in” and be a slave to the white people. He would never give in and become a slave because he has hated that idea since day one. Richard contemplates transferring his hatred and frustration out on other blacks, but knows that will not aid the situation.
One of the strongest of these critics is George Brimley, who, in his article entitled “Dickens’s Bleak House” published in The Spectator in 1853, writes that “Bleak House is, even more than its predecessors, chargeable with not simple faults, but absolute want of construction”(161). He finds that the structure of Bleak House fails because there is no connection between actors and incidents. Brimley points to the interest of Richard Carstone in the Chancery case. The case only serves to draw out Carstone’s personality faults that would have been drawn out in any other interest he may have had. The Chancery case, then, is trivial for it fails to exert any real impact on the characters...
eyes of a child so it will be memorable to him as he will never forget
a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon
Charles Dickens Pip’s character’s importance to the plot of the novel “Great Expectations” is paramount. Charles Dickens uses an ongoing theme over the course of this novel. Dickens creates Pip to be a possible prototype of his own and his father’s life. Pip’s qualities are kept under wraps because the changes in him are more important than his general personality. Dickens created Pip to be a normal everyday person that goes through many changes, which allows a normal reader to relate and feel sympathetic towards Pip.
Perhaps there is a parallel between Richard’s strained relationship with the people and the ultimate fate of the
who stands in his way. Richard talks about a pretext for his villainy. by pointing out his physical deformity. “Why, I in this weak piping. time of peace and peace.
Mr. Jaggers' silent and terrifying ambiguity conjures mystery and enigma all around him. We find that very little is mentioned of his background and that he has no family. He is the epitome of callousness and displays the very least human feelings and affection. Through his desperate attempts to remain on the pedestal and away from social company, he is also Dickens' classic example of isolationism, in line with the theme of Great Expectations. He fears that friendly relationships with others will inconvenience his professional work. Undoubtedly, we find him to be an extremely intelligent and capable lawyer of high calibre. It is he that saves both Molly and Magwitch from the gallows through his expertise. He is also the one who supposedly saves Estella from the misery of orphanhood. Although many may argue that he did her more harm than good by giving her to Miss Havisham, we cannot blame him for he thought "that here was one pretty child out of the heap who could be saved.", which he did. By doing all this, he contributes effectively to the movement of the plot.
Dickens chooses to critique the Chancery Court in Bleak House through his choice of the names of those who are directly involved in the court. The names of the lawyers and/or investigators are as follows: Tulkinghorn, Inspector Bucket, Mr. Guppy, Mr. Snagsby, and Mr. Vholes. Every single name given is unpleasant. According to linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, “[t]he bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary.” (qtd. in R...
Our Mutual Friend, Dickens' last novel, exposes the reality Dickens is surrounded by in his life in Victorian England. The novel heavily displays the corruption of society through multiple examples. These examples, that are planted within the novel, relate to both the society in Dickens' writing and his reality. In order to properly portray the fraud taking place within his novels, Dickens' uses morality in his universe to compare to the reality of society. He repetitively references to the change of mind and soul for both the better and the worst. He speaks of the change of heart when poisoned by wealth, and he connects this disease to the balance of the rich and the poor. This is another major factor to novel, where the plot is surrounded by a social hierarchy that condemns the poor to a life of misery, and yet, condones any action that would normally be seen as immoral when it occurs in the aristocracy. It expands on the idea that only an education and inheritance will bring success in society, with few exceptions. Lastly, Dickens expands his opinions of society through his mockery of ...
Ayres, Brenda. Dissenting Women in Dickens' Novels: the Subversion of Domestic Ideology. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. 86-88. Print.
The novel, Great Expectations, presents the story of a young boy growing up and becoming a
Charles Dickens utilizes his life for inspiration for the protagonist Pip in his novel Great Expectations. They both struggle with their social standing. Dickens loved plays and theatre and therefore incorporated them into Pip’s life. Dickens died happy in the middle class and Pip died happy in the middle class. The connection Dickens makes with his life to Pip’s life is undeniable. If readers understand Dickens and his upbringing then readers can understand how and why he created Pip’s upbringing. Charles Dickens’ life, full of highs and lows, mirrors that of Pip’s life. Their lives began the same and ended the same. To understand the difficulty of Dickens’ childhood is to understand why his writing focuses on the English social structure. Dickens’ life revolved around social standing. He was born in the lower class but wasn’t miserable. After his father fell into tremendous debt he was forced into work at a young age. He had to work his way to a higher social standing. Because of Dicken’s constant fighting of class the English social structure is buried beneath the surface in nearly all of his writings. In Great Expectations Pip’s life mirrors Dickens’ in the start of low class and the rise to a comfortable life. Fortunately for Dickens, he does not fall again as Pip does. However, Pip and Dickens both end up in a stable social standing.
...human nature” makes for a bare-bones human existence, replete with crime, immorality, greed, and as especially demonstrated in Louisa’s case, unhappiness. Mr. Sleary’s compassion gives voice to Dickens’s hope for a more unselfish perspective on human motivation. His critique concludes that the success of government lies in realistically evaluating humanity in all of its general and idiosyncratic tendencies. As Nussbaum says in her essay, Dickens does not call for a “relativistic” approach to governance but one more in touch with the realities and complexities of being human.